Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli)

King of Hawai‘i, 1825–54; son of Kamehameha I and brother of Kamehameha II; enacted significant changes in Hawaiian government during his reign, including adoption of declaration of rights and edict of toleration designed to end persecution of Catholics (1839), adoption of Hawai‘i’s first written constitution (1840), establishment of executive, judicial, and legislative branches (1845–47), enactment of “Great Mahele,” which permitted private ownership of land for first time (1848), and creation of second constitution, which granted adult male suffrage (1852); having no posterity, appointed his nephew Alexander Liholiho to succeed him as king. (See Day, History Makers of Hawaii, 68; Kuykendall, Hawaiian Kingdom, 1:445, 2:304, 3:756; King, Diaries of David Lawrence Gregg, 603; GQC journal, frequent references, Dec. 1850–July 1854.)